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There has been engagement in historical theology and the question of colonization, as well as studies in scriptures about the meaning of land, soil, and Israel. However, discourse across and between traditions is still a novelty. Here, Ackermann discusses the decolonial approach to Western Christian theology.

Toward the end of the Eastern Jin 東晉 (317–420) and the beginning of the Liu Song 劉宋 (420–479) Dynasties, a series of scriptures, what we now know as the ancient Lingbao scriptures (gu Lingbao jing 古靈寶經), emerged. The texts contained various kinds of celestial scripts, which were regarded as the archetype of all the Lingbao scriptures. Among them, the 3 most important were the 672 graphs of the Perfected Script on Five Tablets in Red Writing (Chishu wupian zhenwen 赤書五篇真文), found in the Scripture of Celestial Writing 天書經 (DZ 22), the 256 graphs of the Self-Generating Jade Graphs of the Secret Language of the Great Brahmā (Dafan yinyu ziran yuzi 大梵隱語自然玉字), found in the Inner Sounds of All the Heavens 諸天內音 (DZ 97), and the 64 graphs of the Jade Script of the Five Directions and Five Sprouts (Wufang wuya yuwen 五方五牙玉文), found in the Preface to the Five Talismans of Lingbao 靈寶五符序 (DZ 388). This article traces the origins of these Lingbao celestial scripts, analyzing and explaining the content of their images and text, as well as the beliefs and practices related to them. It then summarizes how Lu Xiujing 陸修靜 (406–477), a prominent Daoist of the Liu Song Southern Dynasty, classified and understood the various scripts in his Catalogue of Lingbao Scriptures (Lingbao jingmu 靈寶經目). Such discussions reveal some basic characteristics of Daoism that distinguish it from other religious traditions: the veneration of written symbols, the pursuit of longevity and immortality, and the synthesis of philosophy and belief. Beliefs concerning celestial writing and scripts occupy a pivotal position in the broader system of Daoist scripture and teachings.

The Reformers’ debates with, among others, the Catholics and Anabaptists on the authority of Scripture offered a valuable response to modern attacks on the authority of Scripture. While the Reformers confessed Sola Scriptura [Scripture alone] against the Catholics, Bullinger’s well-known statement, praedicatio verbi Dei est verbum Dei, could be seen as a confession against the Anabaptists, as well as some of today’s Christian movements that prioritised the personal interpretation of Scripture. Where personal interpretation of Scripture had become the primary principle for Scriptural interpretation in some of today’s Christian communities, Heinrich Bullinger relegated it to the background. For Bullinger, the inner working of the Holy Spirit during the external proclamation of the Word of God in worship within the covenant community was the starting point for Scriptural interpretation.ContributionThe thesis of this article is that within the Reformers’ view of Scripture, as exemplified by the insights of Heinrich Bullinger, the personal reading of the Bible by each member of the covenant community was understood within the context of communal interpretation and covenant theology. Emphasising the significance of communal worship and the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit, this perspective underscored the transformative nature of Scriptural interpretation within the covenant community, rejecting the notion of personal interpretation as the sole authority. It was within the context of Bullinger’s covenant theology that the well-known expression praedicatio verbi Dei est verbum Dei [the preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God], had to be understood.

Calvin and Barth are arguably the main exponents of two notable soteriological camps in the Reformed world nowadays and their soteriology has wide and sometimes unarticulated impacts on Reformed doctrine and praxis. By exploring the systematic theologies of Calvin and Barth, we articulate the similarities and differences between their views of faith. Both theologians emphasise that an individual’s faith must be in Christ and not in one’s own works; neither is one justified because of one’s faith, but because of Christ’s redemptive work. The locus of faith is the main point of difference: Calvin locates an individual’s faith in the Christ revealed in the Bible, whereas Barth locates it in Christ’s immanent revelation of himself at a time of crisis. Behind this difference are divergent views of the Bible and its relationships with theology and praxis.

Karl Barth was an attentive observer of the Second Vatican Council, even though he did not participate in the ecclesial event due to health reasons. His rapprochement with the Catholic Church ended with his visit to Rome in 1966. In his theological writings and commentaries on the Council, his willingness to address the issues of the relationship between Revelation and Scripture, liturgy, the laity, ecumenism, religions, as well as the missionary and kerygmatic dimensions of the Church, can be seen. These texts of Barth are not entirely known in Spanish, which is why we offer them below. In them, the Swiss theologian makes an accurate and critical reading from the Reformed point of view on important topics such as biblical hermeneutics, the idea of the Church, the place of Mary in the history of salvation, religions and religious freedom. We approach these texts with a historical-critical method and from an ecumenical perspective, also making use of the preceding bibliography. Barth's interest in the conciliar texts, from which he tries to extract the spirit of Vatican II, stands out. The results obtained allow us to appreciate both his reformed perspective and the predominant missionary dimension of Vatican II, as well as the ecumenical will to seriously consider this important ecclesial event also for Protestants. Karl Barth fue un atento espectador del concilio Vaticano II, a pesar de no haber participado en el evento eclesial por motivos de salud. El acercamiento a la Iglesia católica culmina con su visita a Roma en 1966. En sus escritos teológicos y sus comentarios al concilio, puede apreciarse su disposición a afrontar los temas de la relación entre la Revelación y la Escritura, la liturgia, los laicos, el ecumenismo, las religiones, así como las dimensiones misionera y kerigmática de la Iglesia. Estos textos de Barth no son del todo conocidos en lengua española, y por ello los ofrecemos a continuación. En ellos, el teólogo suizo realiza una lectura atenta y crítica desde el punto de vista reformado en temas importantes como la hermenéutica bíblica, la idea de Iglesia, el lugar de María en la historia de la salvación, las religiones y la libertad religiosa. Abordamos pues estos textos con un método histórico-crítico y desde una perspectiva ecuménica, sirviéndonos también de la bibliografía precedente. Destaca el interés de Barth por los textos conciliares, de los que pretende extraer el espíritu del Vaticano II, y los resultados obtenidos nos permiten apreciar tanto su perspectiva reformada y la predominante dimensión misionera del Vaticano II, como la voluntad ecuménica de considerar muy en serio este importante evento eclesial también para los protestantes.

Abstract This article studies the relationship between colophons for, and the content of, Dunhuang manuscripts of three indigenous Chinese Buddhist scriptures: the Jiu zhuzhongsheng kunan jing, the Xin pusa jing, and the Quanshan jing. I find that the aspirations for copying these scriptures and the ways of using them are mostly consistent with their content. The patrons or users of these scriptures seem to have largely understood their content. Also, the similarities in the content, and the length of the Jiu zhuzhongsheng kunan jing and the Xin pusa jing should be two factors that account for why these scriptures were frequently copied as one set. Concerns for one's own family and the relevant instructions in the texts may have led patrons to prefer to copy the Xin pusa jing twice, but the other two scriptures only once as a single scribal act.

This article focuses on examining a particular method of Biblical Interpretation. This specific method is that of the Patristic Method of Biblical Interpretation, proposed by Richard Swinburne. The Patristic Method faces a specific issue, ‘the Authority’ Issue, which will thus be dealt with within this article by utilising the notion of epistemic authority, as conceptualised by Linda Zagzebski, and restating it within a Catholic interpretative framework. Doing this will thus enable the Patristic Method to be presented as a robust and cogent contemporary method of Biblical Interpretation that offers a unified and accurate understanding of God’s revelation in the Bible.

Many issues are raised by thinking about “The Idea of Text in Buddhism.” This paper concentrates on scriptures of Indian Buddhism, and considers some of the questions raised or inspired by the papers presented at the 2019 Jerusalem conference on “The Idea of Text in Buddhism.” Consideration is given among other topics to multilingualism, in which context a comparison is offered with the traditions of the Targums in Jewish literature.

The Beu Rodo scriptures are texts sung by boumo, a Zhuang ritual priest at rites. They reflect the primitive belief of the ancient forebears of the Zhuang group in China. As a scriptural heritage of the Zhuang minority nationality, the scriptures have become a significant cultural carrier in the English world through translations. Based on the published English translations, this paper analyzes the combined use of verbal and visual modes in translating the Baeu Rodo scriptures into English. David Holm’s Recalling Lost Souls is under examination as a case study. Theories of multimodal discourse analysis and intersemiotic translation give guidance for examination and discussion. First, the authors bring under examination how verbal and visual modes interacted to produce Recalling Lost Souls, an example of multimodal translation; then they move on to discuss how the translator managed to realize the representational, interactive, and compositional meanings in a multimodal whole. It is concluded that linguistic and non-linguistic modes can work together to produce a multimodal translation, a workable approach to Z-E translation of the Baeu Rodo scriptures leading to higher readability of their translated works in the English world.

The following book is reviewed: Michael Graves (Grand Rapids, Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans, 2014). 201 pp., paperback. ISBN 978-0-8028-6963-0, 24 USD.